Improvement in washing-machines



Patented Dec. 5, T871.

Thomas F. Show' John Brn qmon N0.- Fiql" 1W li 1 l mi 41 UNITED STATES PATENT GEEIOE.

THOMASF. SHAW AND JOHN BRINGMAN, OF TIFFIN, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN WASHING-MACHINES.

To all whom t may concer/1?.:

Be -it known that we, THOMAS F. SHAW and JOHN BRINGMAN, of Tiffin, in the county of Seneca and State of' Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in W'ashingIaehines; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof', reference being had to the accompanying drawing, and to the letters ofreference marked thereon, making a part of' this specification.

The nature of' our invention consists in the construction and arrangement of' a washing-machine, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which our invention lap'pertains to make and use the same, we will now proceed to describe its construction and operation, referring to the annexed drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section, and Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of our Washing machine.

A represents a furnace of any suitable size and form, on the top of which the vesselB is placed, or, rather, the vessel B forms the top of said furnace. O is a grate of' the furnace, made in two parts, below which is located a pipe or reservoir, D, filled with sponge E or other suitable filtering material for a purpose that will be hereinafter described. From one end ofthe pipe or reservoir D a pipe, G, extends about halfway up into a steam-generator, H, placed within the upper part ofthe furnace underthe vessel B. This generator or boiler is of' the kind known as a tubular boiler, and is provided with a tube, I, passing up through a conical tube, J, formed in the bottom of' the vessel B. A convex false-bottom, K, is placed inmthis vessel, said false bottom being provided in its center with a tubular projection fitting around the tube J. L represents a horizontal pipe provided with a branch, a, in the center, which branch passes within the tube J, and is placed upon the upper end ofthe tube I. The horizontal pipe L is, on both sides of the center, provided with a series of spouts, b b, the two series being inclined in opposite directions. From the bottom of the vessel I) a pipe, M, leads downward, communicating with the end of the pipe or reservoir D, the pipe G being at the other end ofthe same, and the filtering material E between the two pipes G and M. At the end of the reservoir D where the pipe M enters is a faucet, N, and from the steam-generator H another faucet, N', leads through the side of' the furnace. In the pipe G is a valve, d, as shown. The clothes to be Washed are laid upon the false-bottom K, the generator H filled or partially filled with water, and a fire started in the furnace. As steam is generated the valve d prevents it from escaping through the pipe G, and it must pass up through the pipe I and horizontal pipe L and come ont with great force through the spouts b b onto the clothes. IThe force of the steam with the opposite inclination ofthe spouts will cause the clothes to revolve, thus bringing the steam to bear upon all the clothes equally. And not only the steam but the boiling water will thus be thrown with great force onto the clothes, cleansing the same. The water, after passing through the clothes, goes down through the pipe M into the reservoir D, where, passing through the filtering material E, it becomes filtered and comparatively clean before it returns to the generator H through the pipe G. By means ofthe faucets N N the Water is drawn off at any time when desired.

Having thus fully described our invention, what We claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a washing-machine constructed substantially as herein described, and where the water is passed and repassed through the clothes, sponge or other suitable filtering material, arranged so that the water must pass through the same each time after going through the clothes, for the purposes set forth.

2. The pipe or reservoir D inclosing sponge or other suitable filtering material and connected by pipes G and M with the steamgenerator H and vessel B, respectively, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

3. .The valve d situated in the pipe G Within the steam-generator H, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

4. The combination of the furnace A, vessel B, reservoir D with filtering material E, pipes G, M, steam-generator H, pipes I J, false-bottom K, and horizontal pipe L with spouts b b, all constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing we have hereunto set our hands this 17th day of May, 1871. 

